The Home Office publishes details of planned Equality Reform

Details of a number of planned equality reforms have been published by the Home Office following the “Red Tape Challenge”: which (although it sounds like the name of a game show) looked at how to simplify the Equality Act and remove unnecessary legislation.

The consultation seeks views on proposals to repeal the following two measures from the Equality Act 2010: 1. Employment tribunals’ power to make wider recommendations in discrimination cases, and 2. The procedure for obtaining information;

To scrap the Third Party Harassment law, which makes bosses liable if a member of staff is harassed by a customer (for further details click here).

The consultation seeks your views on the government’s proposal to repeal the provisions in the Equality Act 2010 which make employers liable for harassment of their employees by third parties over whom they do not have direct control, such as customers or clients;

Review the Public Sector Equality Duty to establish whether this is the best way to ensure public bodies consider the impact of their decisions on different groups.

EHRC

Additional reforms to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) are planned to “help focus the commission on its core functions and deliver value for money” (for further details click here). These include:

Scrapping some unnecessary powers and duties;

Tighter financial controls;

A budget review; and,

The recruitment of a new Chairman and a smaller board.

Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities Theresa May said: ‘Bureaucracy and prescription are not routes to equality. Over-burdening businesses benefits no one, and real change doesn’t come from telling people what to do. ‘Today’s announcement strikes the right balance between protecting people from discrimination and letting businesses get on with the job.’